Hey guys Daniel here from Next Level Life and today I’m going to be talking about
Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Now when most of us think about intelligence we think about intelligence tests and IQ scores
or maybe about geniuses throughout history like Albert Einstein.
However intelligence tests like the IQ test often cover only a small fraction of the topics
that make up intelligence.
As Dr. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences points out there is more than one way to measure
intelligence and I’m going to go through 8 of them today.
The great thing about the Theory of Multiple Intelligences is that it’s found that we
all have certain levels of intelligence in each of the categories and all of them can
be improved throughout our lives.
And that point is something that I haven’t seen covered in many videos online so I’m
going to give you some ideas on how to improve your intelligence in each of these categories
today.
As well as talk about some careers that work well with people who have a lot of intelligence
in each particular category.
So without further ado let’s get right into the list.
The first type of intelligence is the one that we’re probably most familiar with and
that’s logical-mathematical intelligence.
Logical and mathematical intelligence looks at our ability to work with numbers, understand
patterns, and reason critically when confronted with problems.
Generally if you have high logical and mathematical intelligence you’re likely very precise
in your work, take very organized notes, and probably find yourself doing really well in
school since it’s one of the most highly valued types of intelligences in a school’s
curriculum.
Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are two examples of people with high logical and mathematical
intelligence.
One of the best ways to improve your logical and mathematical intelligence is to use it
more in your everyday life.
This is why teachers had us take those arithmetic tests every week in elementary school.
Your brain, not unlike your muscles are strengthened through repetition.
When you want to become stronger you workout and logical and mathematical skills are no
different.
They are strengthened with practice.
The second type of intelligence is linguistic intelligence.
Linguistic intelligence relates to our ability to read, write, and talk to others and is
another highly valued type of intelligence in schools.
In fact one of the primary focuses in the first few years of school is developing this
type of intelligence.
People with a high level of linguistic intelligence are great storytellers and tend to be able
to pick up new languages as well as their native languages faster than the average person.
J.K.
Rowling and Tony Robbins are two examples of people with high linguistic intelligence.
A couple of exercises that will help you strengthen your own linguistic intelligence is to keep
a journal or make up stories and tell them to people.
I’ve personally found the latter to be more helpful since I could see what parts of the
story were engaging to others just by their reactions, but both will help.
The third type of intelligence is visual and spatial intelligence.
Visual or spatial intelligence is the ability to create a visual image of a potential project
or idea and then act on that vision.
Think of it as the ability to see something in your “mind’s eye” and act on it.
This type of intelligence is especially common among artists, filmmakers, scientists, and
even architects.
This is because all of these professions require you to be able to envision what something
is going to look like or how it is going to function before it actually exists.
Leonardo Da Vinci and Steven Spielberg are examples of people with high visual and spatial
intelligence.
Some exercises to improve your visual and spatial intelligence include making maps or
diagrams, playing video games particularly first person shooters, and using visualization
techniques such as predicting what a piece of paper would look like when folded.
As a side note there was actually a great Ted Talk done on how fps games can affect
your visual and spatial intelligence, I’ll leave a link to it in the description below.
It’s a little long and touches on other effects of video games on the brain which
are somewhat related to this but not exactly what I’m talking about here so you may want
to skip to the 14 minute mark of the video, that’s where they start talking about the
visualization tests.
The fourth type of intelligence is musical intelligence.
Musical intelligence is exactly what it sounds like it's the ability to compose songs, sing
and play instruments.
It’s usually found in composers or performers like Mozart, Elvis, and Elton John.
Some exercises to improve your musical intelligence include regularly reading or writing poetry
as it forces you to focus on things like rhyme and tone.
Or you can sing in the shower, either way.
The fifth type of intelligence is bodily and kinesthetic intelligence.
Bodily and kinesthetic intelligence refers to the ability to use one’s own body skillfully
or as a medium of expression to solve a problem.
We see this type of intelligence everyday, whether it’s a sports star dunking a basketball
or a child counting on their fingers to solve a difficult math problem.
Exercises that will improve your bodily-kinesthetic intelligence include basically anything that
incorporates movement into the activity.
This is especially important when learning new things as many studies have shown that
incorporating multiple senses into learning activities helps the lesson sink in deeper
and stay with you longer.
The sixth type of intelligence is interpersonal or social intelligence.
This intelligence looks at the sensitivity one has toward others along with their ability
to work well with and understand others.
Larry King, Oprah Winfrey, and yes even the new U.S. President Donald Trump are examples
of people with high social intelligence.
Social intelligence has always been important but it is perhaps more important in today’s
global world than it has ever been before.
And it can be improved through activities like sharing, or watching videos on how to
improve yourself like the one you are now.
The seventh type of intelligence is intrapersonal intelligence.
This differs from interpersonal intelligence by focusing on your ability to understand,
work, and communicate with yourself as opposed to other people.
People with high levels of intrapersonal intelligence are generally very intuitive, self-motivated,
and may often go against the grain.
Philosophers, gurus, and writers generally have high intrapersonal intelligence.
Plato and Socrates are examples of people with high intrapersonal intelligence.
There are many ways to improve intrapersonal intelligence but some of the more popular
ones are to keep a journal or start practicing meditation or reading books that address the
issue you’re trying to solve.
The eighth type of intelligence is naturalistic intelligence.
Naturalistic intelligence looks at our ability to distinguish among living things such as
different types of plants or animals as well as our ability to understand weather, geology
and other things in nature.
As you can imagine this type of intelligence is particularly useful in farming, biology,
anthropology, and animal training careers.
Charles Darwin is an example of someone with high naturalistic intelligence.
Interacting with nature is probably the best way to improve your naturalistic intelligence
and this can be done in a variety of ways including planting a garden, visiting the
zoo, going hiking, or taking care of pets.
So those are the 8 types of intelligence as originally proposed by Dr. Howard Gardner.
I would like to note that some people have added a ninth type of intelligence to the
list called existential intelligence which focuses on our capacity to tackle deep questions
such as the why’s and how’s of life and death or the meaning of life itself.
So which type of intelligence are you strongest in?
Which one would you most like to improve the most and what topic would you like me to cover
next?
Leave your answers in the comments section below and be sure to subscribe for more videos
like this every Friday.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!